[Since 1996, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana
Maharaja has completed about twenty-five world preaching tours, throughout
America, Europe, Australia and the Orient. On those preaching tours
he has discussed many topics repeatedly. At the same time those topics
remained fresh and new, and he also discussed them in new and ever-fresh
ways. This year in Badger, however, he discussed a topic that he had
never discussed before in the West - Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto Eleven:]

Yesterday in my class, I explained that Lord Sri Krsna wanted to remove
the remaining burden of the Earth before His departure from this world.
He therefore inspired brahmanas and rsis to curse the young Yadavas
so that they would very soon be vanquished.* [See endnote
1] When they were all destroyed, Sri Baladeva Prabhu took samadhi.
He left this world and entered transcendental Goloka Vrndavana. Lord
Krsna acted as if nothing had happened; He went to the bank of the River
Sarasvati and sat alone at the base of a banyan (pippal) tree, deeply
thinking.

In the meantime Uddhava arrived there, weeping, and he told Krsna, "I
know that You are going to Your own abode, Goloka Vrndavana. Please
take me with You. I cannot remain here without You, so please take me."

Sri Krsna replied, "You will have to remain for some time in this
world, but I will now tell you the essence of all the Vedic literatures.
I will explain to you how a person can very easily attain the Supreme
Lord. After this you should go to Badrikasrama, where Maitreya Rsi is
staying. On the way, you will meet Vidura, and you should explain to
him these teachings. Then you should teach Maitreya, after which he
will reveal all these teachings to the world. I know that even if you
remain here, you will not be separated from Me. You will be in Vrndavana,
at Kusuma-sarovara (Uddhava-Kunda), as a blade of grass."

[The gopis of Vrndavana have given up the association of their husbands,
sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and
they have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus
feet of Mukunda, Krsna, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge.
Oh, let me be fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers or
herbs in Vrndavana, because the gopis trample them and bless them with
the dust of their lotus feet. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.61)]

Uddhava had prayed, "I want to be in Vrndavana as a blade of grass.
Then, when the gopis come to meet with Lord Krsna, their lotus foot
dust will fall on my head and my life will be successful."

Now Lord Sri Krsna continued, "So you should remain there. After
some time Vajranatha and Pariksit Maharaja will come to you, and at
that time you should give them all the teachings I am about to impart."
Then, Sri Krsna began to teach Uddhava.

What I have told up until now is a preface. I have discussed under what
circumstances Sri Krsna gave His many instructions to Uddhava.

Now we will discuss the meeting of Nemi Maharaja and the nine Yogendras.

While Sri Krsna's father Vasudeva Maharaja was residing in Dvaraka along
with Sri Krsna and the entire Yadu dynasty, Narada Rsi would sometimes
visit his palace. On those visits, Vasudeva would wash Narada's lotus
feet and distribute the bathing water to his entire family. Once, after
duly worshipping Sri Narada, he asked, "In my previous birth, I
performed worship so that the Supreme Lord would come as my son, but
I have not done anything for my liberation from this world. Please now
tell me the easiest process that even an ignorant man, who has no idea
what is Krsna consciousness, can follow and attain krsna-prema."

[Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Eager to engage in the worship of Lord Krsna,
O best of the Kurus, Narada Muni stayed for some time in Dvaraka, which
was always protected by the arms of Govinda. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.1)]

Narada Rsi is a most elevated, rasika devotee. In the beginning of creation
Prajapati Daksa sent his ten thousand sons to the forest. He did this
so that they would perform austerities and thus later beget good progeny.
Seeing that the boys were qualified for liberation due to their performance
of austerities, Narada Rsi met them in the forest and taught them Krsna
consciousness. Inadvertently, therefore, Daksa had sent them to be educated
in the school of Narada. *[See endnote 2] Narada very
quickly trained them, and thus they became renounced sannyasis. They
went to the forest and there they worshipped Sri Krsna, never to return
to their homes. Lamenting at the news, Daksa begot another 1,000 sons,
sent them to the forest, and the same thing happened to them.

The Deities in the home of Nirguna dasa and
Nilacala dasi, where Srila Narayana Maharaja resided during
the Badger festival

Narada then approached the greatly lamenting Prajapati Daksa, to encourage
him in the line of renunciation and liberation. Daksa knew that Narada
had trained his sons, and that now they had become exalted devotees
and would never return to this world. Narada knows the nature of this
world - it is made only of fire. In this world no one can be satisfied
by worldly desires and sense gratification.

Daksa angrily told Sri Narada, "I curse you that you will not be
able to stay anywhere to train anyone. You will not be able to stay
anywhere longer than the time it takes to milk a cow."

Narada thought, "Oh, very good. Now I can teach others, all over
the world. At first, I was only engaged in teaching the sons of Daksa,
but now I will tour the world and teach Krsna-bhakti."

Daksa's curse could not enter Dvaraka, because it was protected by Lord
Sri Krsna. Whenever Narada Rsi came to be with Krsna, he would spend
so many months with Him, Again, Krsna would send him out, and again
he would return.

Now Vasudeva Maharaja told Narada, "I have worshipped the Supreme
Lord, so that He would come as my son, but I have not done anything
for my liberation. Please instruct me." Hearing this, Narada became
very, very happy. He said, "You have reminded me of the sweet pastimes
and transcendental qualities of Lord Sri Krsna. If anyone will hear
them even one time, that person will become liberated and attain krsna-prema."

Narada continued, "In very ancient times there was a king named
Nemi Maharaja, and he lived in Janakapuri. He was very learned and a
pure devotee. The sons of Rsabhadeva - the nine Yogendras- - as well
as rtviks and thousands of rsis and others came to his kingdom, because
he was performing a fire sacrifice under the direction of elevated sages.
When the nine Yogendras arrived at the sacrifice, everyone stood up
out of respect for them."

Maharaja Rsabhadeva had one hundred sons, among whom the nine Yogendras
were prominent, and the eldest son was Bharata Maharaja. Before Bharata's
rule, the Earth was known as Anjanaba-varsa, and by his name it became
Bharata-varsa. Bharata was a great devotee. He left this world as one
leaves his stool after passing it, and he went to the forest to perform
bhajana. His devotion reached up to the stage of bhava-bhakti, but then
he became somehow entangled with a baby deer. He had previously left
his sons, daughters, wife, wealth and great kingdom, but later he became
greatly attached to a deer. He therefore lost three births. At the time
of death he was remembering the deer, thinking, "My dear son, those
places were very auspicious where you used to travel, and the places
where your foot dust was found are holy places." In the meantime,
death came while he was remembering the deer, and he thus became a deer
in his next life.

If anyone is attached to a beautiful lady, what will be the result?
If Bharata was attached to a deer and he was at the level of bhava -
and we are nowhere in bhakti - for us, hundreds of thousands lives will
be lost. Be careful. Bharata became a deer. Similarly, if we are too
attached to our families, wife and sons, at death they must come in
our remembrance and we will become ladies - and ladies will become males.
So be careful.
After three lives Bharata again received the same state as before, but
this time he was careful. He attained Krsna-prema and was liberated.

The nine Yogendras were the brothers of this Bharata. From the beginning
of their lives, the Nine Yogendras were like the four Kumaras - Sanat,
Sanatana, Sanaka and Sanandana. They were paramahamsas. They did not
identify with any caste, and they would go everywhere they liked - even
up to heaven and Brahmaloka. When they arrived at Nemi Maharaja's fire
sacrifice everyone present there stood up, and Nemi Maharaja told them,
"The fruit of our sacrifice has come here. You may stop the sacrifice;
there is no need of doing any further sacrifice."

Nemi Maharaja then asked the Nine Yogendras the same question asked
by Maharaja Vasudeva to Sri Narada. When Narada came to Vasudeva Maharaja,
Vasudeva Maharaja said

[Sri Vasudeva said: My lord, your visit, like that of a father to his
children, is for the benefit of all living beings. You especially help
the most wretched among them, as well as those who are advanced on the
path toward the Supreme Lord, Uttamasloka. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.4)]

"Oh Narada Rsi, your traveling through this world is for the benefit
for the world. You are so merciful - more so than a father and mother."
If you worship demigods and you want poison from them, they will give
poison. Even Sankara gave a boon to Bhasmasura: "On whomever you
will put your hands, that person will be finished." In this way,
Varuna, Indra and all other demigods will give any benediction you want.
They won't consider whether that benediction is poison or nectar. But
a pure devotee is not like that. He will only give what is actually
beneficial.

[King Videha (Nemi) said: I think that you must be direct associates
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is famous as the enemy of
the demon Madhu. Indeed, the pure devotees of Lord Visnu wander throughout
the universe not for their personal, selfish interest, but to purify
all the conditioned souls. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.28)]

Nemi Maharaja said, "I think you are all associates of the enemy
of the Madhu demon, Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Lord. Such associates
always travel throughout the world by their mercy, to teach the world
bhagavat-dharma."

An example of one's getting the benefit of advanced association is the
dying Ajamila. The Visnudutas (messengers of Lord Visnu) came to him
on his deathbed. They told him so many truths, and then he was given
a new life and went to Haridwara, where he began to chant the pure name
of Narayana. He thus achieved prema and went to Vaikuntha.

["For the conditioned souls, the human body is most difficult to
achieve, and it can be lost at any moment. But I think that even those
who have achieved human life rarely gain the association of pure devotees,
who are dear to the Lord of Vaikuntha." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.29)]

Hearing the question of Nemi Maharaja, one of the Nine Yogendras, Kavi,
began his reply. He said, "The Supreme Lord Krsna has created so
many processes for attaining Him. The path is easy. Even if you will
run on that path of spontaneous devotion with your eyes closed - if
you neglect something, no harm. By that path you will attain krsna-prema."

["O King, one who accepts this process of devotional service to
the Supreme Personality of Godhead will never blunder on his path. Even
while running with eyes closed, he will never trip or fall. (Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.2.35)]

["In accordance with the particular nature one has acquired in
conditioned life, whatever one does with body, words, mind, senses,
intelligence or purified consciousness, one should offer to the Supreme,
thinking, 'This is for the pleasure of Lord Narayana.'" (Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.2.36)]

["Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the
material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy
of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme
Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of
the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency
for illusion, called maya. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage
unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under
the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept
as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul. (Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.2.37)]

Don't disobey Guru, otherwise you will fall down. You should know that
Gurudeva is our most dear friend. You should obey and serve him, and
by that service you should always serve the divine couple Sri Sri Radha
and Krsna. This is the easiest method to attain Them.

Bhayam dvitiya - If you forget Krsna, you are forced to be extremely
attached to this world. You will have to think, "I am this body.
Old age will come and then I will die." Fear comes. At the time
of death we cannot take anything with us. So many diseases come, and
so many problems come in this world. You should know that Gurudeva is
more dear than your father, mother, wife or any relative. Obey him and
worship him, and then perform bhajana to Radha and Krsna.

[By chanting the holy name of the Supreme Lord, one comes to the stage
of love of Godhead. Then the devotee is fixed in his vow as an eternal
servant of the Lord, and he gradually becomes very much attached to
a particular name and form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As
his heart melts with ecstatic love, he laughs very loudly or cries or
shouts. Sometimes he sings and dances like a madman, for he is indifferent
to public opinion. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.40)]

Evam-vratah. Vrata means vow. Our vow should be to chant the glories
of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.

[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Priya-nama-kirtya - You should chant those
particular holy names that are most favorable for your bhakti, according
to your constitutional spiritual nature or your level of advancement
in Krsna consciousness. The gopis used to chant while performing their
household activities. If they were churning yogurt, they would sing:

While chanting, the pure devotee sometimes sees Lord Sri Krsna playing
with cowherd boys like Madhumangala. Madhumangala tells Krsna, "If
you give me Your dress and flute and peacock feather, then no one will
give any sweets to You. They will give all the ladhus and other sweets
to me." Krsna replies, "Here, take them," and He gives
Madhumangala His flute, peacock feather and yellow cloth. In the meantime,
the giant horse demon Kesi comes to Vrndavana. Thinking Madhumangala
to be Krsna, the Kesi demon kicks his hind legs with such force that
simply by the movement of the air he created, Madhumangala goes flying.
All the cowherd boys begin to laugh loudly, and similarly, the devotee
who remembers this pastime also laughs loudly.

Seeing that devotee laughing, general persons do not know why. They
think he is a mad person, but actually he is simply absorbed in Lord
Sri Krsna's sweet pastimes. Sometimes that devotee very loudly begins
to laugh: "Ho Ho Ho." Sometimes he sees that Lord Sri Krsna
has disappeared, and he then begins to weep loudly. Why he is weeping
- nobody knows. Gayanty unmada means that he seems like a mad person.
Nrtyate means dance. Sometimes, to please Krsna, that devotee dances
with no shyness at all.

These are the symptoms of a maha-bhagavata, and we should try to follow
him. Don't be attached to anything worldly. Bhakti is very rare; even
demigods want to take birth as a human being in order to attain it.

Although this is hard to understand, you will have to know all these
truths one day. Don't think, "This is very hard. We can't understand
this, so we should give our attention to other things." You will
certainly have to come to the stage of giving up attachment to unwanted
habits, and then nistha, steadiness in the activities of bhakti, and
ruci, taste in bhakti, will come. We should serve with all our time
and all our senses. With our minds we should remember the sweet pastimes
of Krsna, with our ears we should hear the sweet pastimes of Krsna,
with our mouths we should sing the glories of Krsna, with our hands
we should serve, and with our feet we should travel throughout the holy
places of Navadvipa-dhama and Vrndavana-dhama. We should engage all
our organs and senses, so that maya will not be able to enter in our
heart. A person who acts in this way will achieve eternal peace and
krsna-prema.

[Maharaja Nimi said: Now please tell me in greater detail about the
devotees of the Supreme Lord. What are the natural symptoms by which
I can distinguish between the most advanced devotees, those on the middle
level and those who are neophytes? What are the typical religious activities
of a Vaisnava, and how does he speak? Specifically, please describe
those symptoms and characteristics by which Vaisnavas become dear to
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.44)]

The King said, "I want to know the symptoms of a devotee. I wish
to know how they speak, how they behave, what is their nature and by
what symptoms they are most dear to Krsna. I want to know this."
We will continue tomorrow. [*Endnote 1 - Once upon
a time, great sages were made angry by the sporting activities of the
princely descendants of the Yadu and Bhoja dynasties, and thus, as desired
by the Lord, the sages cursed them.
PURPORT
The associates of the Lord who were playing the part of princely descendants
of the Yadu and Bhoja dynasties were not ordinary living entities. It
is not possible that they could offend any saintly man or sage, nor
could the sages, who were all pure devotees of the Lord, be influenced
to anger by any of the sporting activities of the princes born in the
holy dynasties of Yadu or Bhoja, wherein the Lord Himself appeared as
a descendant. The cursing of the princes by the sages was another transcendental
pastime of the Lord to make a show of anger. The princes were cursed
in order that one may know that even the descendants of the Lord, who
could never be vanquished by any act of material nature, were subjected
to the reactions of anger by great devotees of the Lord. One should
therefore take great care and attention not to commit an offense at
the feet of a devotee of the Lord." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.3.25)

"A few months passed, and then, bewildered by Krsna, all the descendants
of Vrsni, Bhoja and Andhaka who were incarnations of demigods went to
Prabhasa, while those who were eternal devotees of the Lord did not
leave but remained in Dvaraka."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.3.26)

"Thereafter, all of them , being permitted by the brahmanas, partook
of the remnants of prasada and also drank liquor made of rice. By drinking
they all became delirious, and, bereft of knowledge, they touched the
cores of each other's hearts with harsh words.
PURPORT
In ceremonies when brahmanas and Vaisnavas are sumptuously fed, the
host partakes of the remnants of foodstuff after the guest has given
permission. So the descendants of Vrsni and Bhoja formally took permission
from the brahmanas and ate the prepared foodstuff. Ksatriyas are permitted
to drink at certain occasions, so they all drank a kind of light liquor
made of rice. By such drinking they became delirious and bereft of sense,
so much so that they forgot their relationship with one another and
used harsh words which touched the cores of each other's hearts. Drinking
is so harmful that even such a highly cultured family becomes affected
by intoxication and can forget themselves in a drunken state. The descendants
of Vrsni and Bhoja were not expected to forget themselves in this way,
but by the will of the Supreme it happened, and thus they became harsh
towards one another." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.2)

"As by the friction of bamboos destruction takes place, so also,
at sunset, by the interaction of the faults of intoxication, all their
minds became unbalanced, and destruction took place.
PURPORT
When there is need of fire in the forest, by the will of the Supreme
it takes place due to friction among the bamboos. Similarly, the descendants
of Yadu were all destroyed by the will of the Lord by the process of
self-destruction. Just as there is no possibility of a fire's occurring
deep in the forest due to human effort, so also there was no power in
the universe which could vanquish the descendants of Yadu, who were
protected by the Lord. The Lord wanted them to be destroyed, and thus
they obeyed His order, as indicated by the word tad-anujnata."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.3)

'The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, after foreseeing the end
by His internal potency, went to the bank of the River Sarasvati, sipped
water, and sat down underneath a tree.
PURPORT
All the above-mentioned activities of the Yadus and Bhojas were executed
by the internal potency of the Lord because He wanted them to be dispatched
to their respective abodes after He had finished His mission of descent.
They were all His sons and grandsons and were given complete protection
by the paternal affection of the Lord. How they could be vanquished
in the presence of the Lord is answered in this verse: everything was
done by the Lord Himself (svatma-mayayah). The Lord's family members
were either incarnations of His plenary expansions or demigods from
the heavenly planets, and thus before His departure He separated them
by His internal potency. Before being dispatched to their respective
abodes, they were sent to the holy place of Prabhasa, where they performed
pious activities and took food and drink to their heart's content. It
was then arranged for them to be sent back to their abodes so that others
could see that the powerful Yadu dynasty was no longer in the world.
In the previous verse, the word anujnata, indicating that the whole
sequence of events was arranged by the Lord, is significant. These particular
pastimes of the Lord are not a manifestation of His external energy,
or material nature. Such an exhibition of His internal potency is eternal,
and therefore one should not conclude that the Yadus and Bhojas died
in a drunken state in an ordinary fratricidal war. Sri Jiva Gosvami
comments on these incidents as magical performances." (Srimad-Bhagavatam
3.4.4)

"The Lord is the vanquisher of the distresses of one who is surrendered
unto Him. Thus He who desired to destroy His family told me previously
to go to Badarikasrama.
PURPORT
While at Dvaraka, Uddhava was warned to avoid the distresses which were
to follow the disappearance of the Lord and the destruction of the Yadu
dynasty. He was advised to proceed to Badarikasrama because there he
could associate with the devotees of Nara-Narayana, and in their association
of devotional service he could increase his eagerness for chanting,
hearing, knowledge and detachment." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.5)

"Yet in spite of my knowing His desire , O Arindama , I followed
Him because it was impossible for me to bear separation from the lotus
feet of the master. Thus following, I saw my patron and master sitting
alone and deeply thinking, taking shelter on the bank of the River Sarasvati
although He is the shelter of the goddess of fortune." (Srimad-Bhagavatam
3.4.6-7)]

[*Endnote 2 - "This chapter relates how all the
sons of Daksa were delivered from the clutches of the material energy
by following the advice of Narada, who was therefore cursed by Daksa.

"Influenced by the external energy of Lord Visnu, Prajapati Daksa
begot ten thousand sons in the womb of his wife, Pancajani. These sons,
who were all of the same character and mentality, were known as the
Haryasvas. Ordered by their father to create more and more population,
the Haryasvas went west to the place where the River Sindhu (now the
Indus) meets the Arabian Sea. In those days this was the site of a holy
lake named Narayana-saras, where there were many saintly persons. The
Haryasvas began practicing austerities, penances and meditation, which
are the engagements of the highly exalted renounced order of life. However,
when Srila Narada Muni saw these boys engaged in such commendable austerities
simply for material creation, he thought it better to release them from
this tendency. Narada Muni described to the boys their ultimate goal
of life and advised them not to become ordinary karmis to beget children.
Thus all the sons of Daksa became enlightened and left, never to return.

"Prajapati Daksa, who was very sad at the loss of his sons, begot
one thousand more sons in the womb of his wife, Pancajani, and ordered
them to increase progeny. These sons, who were named the Savalasvas,
also engaged in worshiping Lord Visnu to beget children, but Narada
Muni convinced them to become mendicants and not beget children. Foiled
twice in his attempts to increase population, Prajapati Daksa became
most angry at Narada Muni and cursed him, saying that in the future
he would not be able to stay anywhere. Since Narada Muni, being fully
qualified, was fixed in tolerance, he accepted Daksa's curse."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.5, Summary by Srila Prabhupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Maharaja)

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